Where to go for chimpanzee trekking Safari in Uganda
Uganda boasts 10 national parks and 13 wildlife reserves. The country is most famous for its mountain gorillas but it also supports the highest concentration of primates in East Africa including 13 species of primates and chimpanzees.
November this year 2018, Uganda’s 3 national parks were listed on top of the world’s best places to track chimpanzee in the wild. These are Kibale Forest National Park, Queen Elizabeth National park and Budongo Forest Reserve.
You now want to track Chimpanzees and add something else to see and do on your itinerary. Let us narrow your choices down to the place where you will most likely get to track chimps and also get good sightings of large mammals including rhinos, elephants, lion, buffalo, leopard, giraffe, Hippos.
Budongo Forest Reserve.
Budongo Forest reserve is located in southern part of Murchison Falls Conservation Area. Covering 3893 sq km, Murchison is Uganda’s largest protected area home to 79 different mammals including big 4, hippos, Nile crocodiles and 451 species of birds.
Budongo forest reserve is home to about 600 chimps including 1 group that is habituated for tourists to see. Combing Murchison Falls National Park for game viewing and Budongo forest reserve for chimp tracking is a very good itinerary and great option for budget safari. Chimp tracking is done in the south of the park. So travelers can start or end with the game viewing in the north recommended for 2 nights and 1 night via Budongo Forest Reserve.
We recommend at least 3-4 days safari at best to enjoy a safari including chimp tracking and game viewing activities game drives, boat cruise on river Nile at Paara. Hiking to the top of Murchison falls- the world’s strongest waterfalls.
The best time to go to Murchison falls is the dry season from December to February and June to September. On game drives and boat cruises you can spot Elephants, buffalo, lion and leopard and a variety of animals such as Rothschild giraffe, zebra, Uganda kob, and Jackson’s hartebeest.
As you travel to Murchison en route you have the chance to stop at Ziwa rhino sanctuary and enjoy guided rhino trekking on foot with a ranger. There’s a high chance that you will spot the big five when you are in Murchison falls national park.
Kibale Forest national park
Known as primate capital of the world, Kibale forest has the highest density of primates in Africa about 13 species of primates including chimpanzees. The area of the park is spread over 795 sq km and is home to more than 1500 chimpanzees. Wanderlust says kibale is the busiest chimpanzee tracking location because it has many chimp groups habituated for chimpanzee tracking and chimpanzee habituation experience.
Chimp tracking allows visitors to see chimps with a guide for 1 hour and it is done early morning and afternoon. Chimpanzee habituation experience (CHEX ) allows visitors to view chimps for a full day in the forest.
Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth is the most visited park in Uganda. The park is famous for its wildlife especially Tree Climbing lions and a variety of beautiful ecosystems that include Savannah, kazinga channel, crater lakes, forest gorges, swamps and lakes. The parks covers about of 1,978 sq km which include two forest reserves home to chimpanzees- both Kaymabura forest gorge and Kalinzu forest reserve offer visitors amazing chimpanzee tracking experience.
Along with the 95 mammals and over 600 species of birds, Queen Elizabeth offers a rewarding wildlife safari experience. Unlike in Budongo where you may miss to see chimps on a bad luck, here in Queen Elizabeth you cannot. At least if you don’t see them in kyambura you can opt for kalinzu as compensation. excellent chimp tracking add to the park’s popular activities to create a memorable safari. on game drives visitors are likely to see elephant, buffalo, topi, Uganda kob, lion and leopard. A boat cruise on Kazinga channel also gets you close to hippos, Nile crocodiles, water birds and photo opportunity to capture animals that come to drink water.
